Technical Field
The present invention relates to mobile platforms for agriculture, and more particularly to systems and methods for detecting onset of frost damage and ways to prevent it by minimizing inputs to save plant life.
Description of the Related Art
Damage to crops by freezing temperatures can cause large amounts of crop losses every year. A number of different methods are available for preventing frost damage to crops. The methods are described in terms of active and passive techniques. Active methods are those which are used when the danger of a freeze is present and include such techniques as adding heat and covering crops. Passive methods are those which are used well in advance of the freeze and include proper scheduling of planting and harvesting within a safe freeze-free period, proper crop and field selection, etc. The terms frost and freeze are often used interchangeably for the subfreezing temperature conditions that cause crop damage. In general, any prevention method may use a uniform approach where the whole farm or crop planted in a certain area is treated in the same way.